Hannah's Homework

Hannah's class was assigned to write a summary of what they did over Thanksgiving Break.  I thought Hannah summed it up well.  I will try not to edit as I type.

During Thanksgiving break I went to  Kentucky to see my cousins.  It was a long drive to their house.  When we got there I went in my cousin Noelle's room.  I climbed into Noelle's top bunk and looked down at the floor then I hopd on to her bottom bunk.  Night time came soon so we all played a little big planet untill bed time.  The next day Rachel and Lori made breakfast bureedos.  After we ate I went to go play little big planet.  Later Lori and Rachel took us to the park and we got very muddy.  On Thursday I helped my mom make sausage stuffing.  Soon it was time for Thanksgiving dinner.  My favorite foods were the cranberry sauce and baked pinapple.  About one hour later it was time for bed.  In the morning like usual I went to play little big planet and get breakfast.  After that the dads took us black frida shoping.  I bought sanitizer, a filterd water bottle, and a flash drive.  after shoping I played marbles Rachel won.  Then it was time for the bonfire.  That night all of the kids stayed up all night watching full house.  The next morning it was time to go.  We said bye and went home.

What Time Is It?

According to the clock on the mantle, it is 6:00 in the morning.  This may sound early, but for seasoned Black Friday shoppers who have been out the door at 4:30 in the morning in years past, this is a late start.   I think last year was the year that Shannon and I decided we were too old to make it out the door at 4:30 just to watch the crazy people.   

We usually have a list of things we would like to find, but we don't fight for the items.  There is something about pulling into the store parking lot and not seeing a parking spot in sight, seeing the line of people down the sidewalk waiting to get in the building, walking to the back of the store to find the end of the line, standing in line with my arms loaded because there are no available carts, the lack of feeling in my arms from holding that stuff and the ache when I can finally put my stuff down...that is loads of fun and makes me smile.  Crazy, I know.

This year many of the stores opened at midnight or earlier on Thanksgiving Day so there weren't any over crowded parking lots or lines at our first couple of stops.  As for me, I am not going to spend Thanksgiving Day shopping.  We have so much fun together.  There may come a day when none of my kids are "home" for Thanksgiving, but for now they are and I love the memories we make when we are together as a family and with friends.  I also hate that the retailers have become so greedy their employees not only have to work the day after Thanksgiving, but now on Thanksgiving Day.  Sad.  We talked to one lady who works at one of the stores and she had been there since 11:00 pm on Thanksgiving night.  She was scheduled to work until 11:00 a.m.  Jobs are hard to come by these days, so I'm sure some of the employees are happy to have the hours, but where do we draw the line?

Most days I wouldn't miss the crowds, but on this day I did.

I managed to make a very small dent in my Christmas shopping and as much as I love the thrill of Black Friday, I do not enjoy the rest of the shopping season.

You Speak LEGO?

Aaron has always been extra excited when he found out Uncle Brian would be part of the Thanksgiving celebration.  Brian is super kind to all the kids, but I never quite knew why Aaron felt that special bond until...I realized they both speak the same language.

After dinner, Brian was showing Aaron pictures of a LEGO convention he and Cynthia had attended.  Aaron was in his element.  Little did Brian know this would lead to a two hour period of Aaron following him around talking about LEGOs. 

Here is a portion of the conversation that was overheard...

Aaron: I used one of those grey cylinder things and put it on another grey cylinder and put that on another grey cylinder.

Brian:  Oh, yeah.  The one with the four things.

Aaron:  Yes.

Me:  (Laughing to Cynthia)  They speak LEGO.

Brian was nice enough to show Aaron a website where he could construct his own LEGO design and then order it as a kit.

We Speak In Tongues

Not really.  And if you speak in tongues, please don't be offended...more power to ya.

We arrived at Doug and Shannon's for our annual Thanksgiving get-together yesterday afternoon.  The laughs start as soon as we get out of the car and don't stop.

Shannon surprised me with a scrapbook she had made of our past Thanksgivings together.  Beautiful!!  It is one of the BEST GIFTS EVER!

When it comes time to get all the kiddos down, we do a joint pray and tuck.  If the adults sit in the hallway, we can see in both of the girls' rooms.  Aaron is on an air mattress in the hallway this year.  We follow the Simpsons' prayer because the Ray "Nice Things" just takes way too long with 11 people.  They do Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.  At the end they add, "God bless Mom, Dad, Lori, Noelle and all of our loved ones."  Of course, they add the names of whoever else is in the house before they get to "all of our loved ones."  This is where we are thankful that God has a sense of humor because we all start with our own family...out loud...at the same time.  The names fly and we have Aunt Cynthia and Uncle Brian here, too.  It ends in lots of giggles and I love it!! 

End of November. What?!?!?!?

Did anyone see the month of November go by? I can't believe this is the last day.

I guess I will blog about some of the fun we had during Thanksgiving week so I will at least have one post for November.

The kids had the entire week of Thanksgiving off which I loved. We have lived in places where they were only off Thursday and Friday or Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

The first few days of the break were spent getting the house ready for company. The kids had play dates and sleepovers. Aaron has a friend who lived two doors down. Aaron and Hannah spent Saturday, Monday and Tuesday running between our yard and her yard. They had the best time.

Doug and Shannon arrived Wednesday with their girls in time for lunch...homemade chicken soup and sandwiches. We didn't stop eating until they left on Sunday.

This is a random picture of the five kids being creative and having fun. They figured out they could make a star. When they are together there is generally no tv. They just play.

We started what we hope will be a new tradition this year. A local ministry holds a race as one of their fundraisers. Doug, Lori, Rachel and I ran the 5k. PK ran the 1k with Noelle, Aaron and Hannah so we didn't lose any kids. Shannon was the official photographer.

The weather was perfect for a run. Over 7000 participants were expected for the races. There was also a 10k option. The director of the ministry prayed over the participants before the race. I thought that was neat. Next year it will be our turn to go to Doug and Shannon's house, but many communities now hold Thanksgiving morning races.

We came home and put together a wonderful Thanksgiving meal. Lori and Rachel helped prepare dishes this year without any adult assistance.

It is nice to watch the two of them interact. They of course know they are way to cool for their old parents, but when they are together they aren't afraid to be silly and let down some of those walls they have to keep up with other friends.

Here the kids are serving up their Thanksgiving feast. I insisted on serving it from the kitchen island because when we first moved in and I saw the island I envisioned serving Thanksgiving dinner from there.

Shannon took time to call her extended family and with them a happy Thanksgiving.

Each year the kids put on a play. They write it themselves. Each year tops the previous year. This year was no exception. It was like a little musical when Aaron and Noelle performed a duet.

I love having the trampoline in the backyard. The kids all spent a lot of time out there. Doug caught these pictures of Noelle and Hannah watching the clouds.

The boards that are scattered around the yard were drug out of the shed by the kids. It is all scrap lumber from finishing the basement so it really is just for them. They made a bridge from the shed to the trampoline. I don't have a picture of it, but it was just fun.

Black Friday belongs to Shannon and me. We start early and go as long as we can. We noticed we are starting to get a bit older because we were willing to sleep an hour longer and give up being at Target right when the doors opened. We come away with great deal every year, but we don't go with that one particular thing in mind that we have to have or kill to obtain. I think people watching is a big part of the thrill. This year it was pretty calm. After we had our fill of shopping, we went to see a movie. In appreciation we gave PK and Doug Saturday. They went to see the latest Harry Potter. Then they came home and put a new ceiling fan in the living room. The old one needed to be serviced and it was kind of dark and dreary.

PK's younger sister and her husband stopped by for about an hour on their way through town Saturday morning. The kids were really happy to see them.

Sunday morning came way to fast and our company was on their way back home.

If April Showers Bring May Flowers

what do Mayflowers bring?

Pilgrims!!!! I must have learned that joke when I was in kindergarten or first grade. This is a picture of Hannah and me after her kindergarten class put on their Thanksgiving performance last week.

Happy Thanksgiving! Remember we all have things to be thankful for. Spend some time today thanking God for his many provisions, big and small.

Hey! Where's Perry?

That is a regular line in one of my kids' favorite programs. Truth be told, P.K. and I like to watch that show as well. It is a cartoon about two brothers who come up with grand ideas of how to spend their days. Their adventures drive their older sister crazy and she spends her days trying to bust them. They have a pet platypus named Perry who unknown to them is a secret agent. In every episode one of the boys will realize Perry is nowhere to be found and will ask, "Hey! Where's Perry?" Aaron and Hannah have the stuffed version of these characters and brought them along for our trip.

We are visiting friends for Thanksgiving. P.K. has to work on Friday so we are having our Thanksgiving celebration today which will allow us to drive home on Thursday. The kitchen has been buzzing this morning with the six adults making preparations. Where was Perry this morning?

He was in the kitchen helping to prepare the much anticipated sausage stuffing.

Yesterday P.K., Brian and Doug took a guys day to tour some distilleries in the area. Perry was MIA the entire day. Apparently he decided he wanted to hang with the guys and they were nice enough to document the secret operation in pictures.

When sneaking into a distillery, one must watch for hidden mirrors.

Where did Perry go?

Perry was very happy to meet a chemist at one of the distilleries.

Perry blended right into the crowd.

I think Perry had a great time touring with the boys. When it comes to P.K., Doug and Brian the old addage "Boys will be boys" rings true.

Thanksgiving Week In Review

Monday night we let the kids stay up past their bed time. When we finally tucked them in, they all slept in Aaron's room...Lori and Rachel on an air mattress, Aaron in his bed, Noelle in the top bunk and Hannah on her Dora couch. They were understandably a bit wound up. We heard lots of laughs and voices. All of the kids were guilty. At least one child had come to tattle on the rest before Hannah and Noelle came down.

Noelle: Hannah won't stop singing.
Hannah: Saying "A-Doodley-Doo" is NOT singing

On Wednesday Shannon and I drug ourselves away from the Nertz table long enough to join the rest of the family at the park. It was nice to see daylight. Once we returned Doug was getting Hannah out of the car when he noticed her shoes were on the wrong feet.

Doug: Hannah your shoes are on the wrong feet. You need to change them.
Hannah: (Looks at Doug, looks down at her shoes, looks back at Doug) But we're just going over there (pointing to the front door).
Doug: Well, you still need to switch your shoes around. Wearing shoes on the wrong feet could make you pigeon toed (he then demonstrates what that looks like. Then he shows her that if the Dora on her shoes are on the outside, then the shoes are on the correct feet.)
Hannah: (Looks at Doug's Nikes which have the swoosh on the inside and outside) How do you know if your shoes are on the right feet?

Aaron and Noelle have been betrothed since Shannon and I found out we would have a boy and a girl. They were planning a wedding this week when Noelle decided she was finished. Here is what the kids decided to substitute.

Shannon and I continued our Black Friday shopping tradition this morning. We decided not to go quite as early as we have in the past, but we did make it to Target at 6:00 a.m. For us it is more about the experience of watching the other crazy people than it is about finding the best bargain ever. After Target, we went to Kohl's. We each found a little something and stood in line for about 30 minutes. There were about three people between us and the finish line where a friendly associate would direct us to the appropriate register. All of a sudden Shannon's face looked like she had sucked on a lemon and she said, "Ahhh." I look at her and then it hit me. A nasty smell nastier than either of us has ever encountered. I have changed a lot of dirty diapers in my day and none could match the smell around us. The smell just hung in the air. There was no escape. Gagging occurred. Apparently, whatever the lady in front of us had for Thanksgiving dinner created a very putrid smell when released as gas on the exiting end. Because we only had a couple things, we didn't have a cart. This meant we didn't have a free hand. The sight of us trying to balance our purchases and cover our noses with anything we could manage was hilarious. The thickness of the stench could not be waved away. We tried.

Tonight we rented a movie for the kids and let them eat leftovers and popcorn in the family room. Shannon and I had returned to playing Nertz in the dining room. Rachel comes in and says, "Aaron is sitting on his bowl of unpopped kernels to see if he can make them warm enough to pop." As a mom, this is not something I thought I would ever hear. Once I can contain my laughter (no thanks to Shannon who is laughing uncontrollably across from me, really had she been drinking anything her nose would have been a fountain)I call him to the dining room and ask him if he really did sit on his bowl of unpopped kernels hoping they would pop. And did he really think it would work? Yes, he sat on the bowl. No, he did not expect it to work. And some of you may have been wondering why Noelle backed out of the wedding.

It's In the Air

The kids are off school all week. P.K. is off of work until Friday. Our friends left their home just before 5:30 this morning (They were going to leave at 5:00, but Caribou Coffee doesn't open until 5:30...priorities here) to travel to our home. We are making some last minute "company is coming" house preparations. I have 15 Bean Soup cooking in the crock pot so dinner will be waiting when our friends arrive. The house smells yummy! There is that certain feeling of excitement looming in the air and I love it!

As I often mention, I am big on traditions. One of ours is sharing Thanksgiving with Doug and Shannon and their two beautiful girls (also our Goddaughters) Lori and Noelle. We swap years. This year they are coming to us. We have been counting down for quite a while. We have no special plans. There will be lots of Nertz played. We may break it up now and then and play some Rummy. We will cook like crazy on Thanksgiving day and Shannon and I will be up before the sun on Friday morning to watch the crazy people fight for their prized sale items. The kids will put together a show. It is always worth it to watch them try to direct one another. All too soon it will be Saturday and we will have to tell them good bye as they head back home, but we will not dwell on that. We will make some memories and enjoy being together.

I have to share one unrelated thing. Yesterday I was going through a couple boxes in the basement I still had not unpacked. The boxes were full of stuff I had put off unpacking because I didn't know what to do with it. At the bottom of one of the boxes was Aaron's Bibleman Bible. If you are not familiar with Bibleman, he is a Bible super hero. My kids have several of the DVDs and love them. They teach great lessons using scripture. Aaron also has a couple of the action figures and his own Bibleman costume complete with the sword of the spirit. At some point he asked for the Bibleman Bible. It is just a kids' version of the Bible. He wasn't quite old enough to read it so last year while the kids ate breakfast I would read to them. Because I kept it in the kitchen I guess it got packed with all the last minute stuff. When I pulled it out yesterday I realized that Aaron's reading skills had improved greatly over the summer. I gave it to him and told him he was probably old enough to read it on his own. I almost cried when I walked up the stairs and heard him call P.K. to his room. He had been reading and found a scripture he wanted to memorize. He read it to P.K. and then proceeded to tell P.K. what it meant. Blessed my heart! Last night when we got ready for our night time routine, Aaron asked me if we could add something to the routine. We already do "nice thing" which means everyone goes around the circle and says one nice thing to everyone else. Then we sing a song, do prayers and tuck each child in their own individual bed. So I was thinking we really need to add one more thing. :) He asked if he could read the scripture he had read to Daddy and we could all try to memorize it. Then next Sunday he would give us a new one. Almost to tears, again!

So today as we finish our preparations for our Thanksgiving week, I am thankful that my son has a heart for God's word. I pray that the Lord will continue to grow that in him.